Learning the Ropes
by thriller107
Summary: Jaden Yuki is a pro duelist, but all anybody cares about anymore is Turbo Duels. When Jaden goes back to Duel Academy for a year to help celebrate its 30th anniversary, he decides to relearn everything he knows. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1: Slifer Red

**Hey people! This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic, so please review! Please! Thanks. Enjoy.**

**-thriller107  
**

* * *

An old pro was back at Duel Academy. His name was Jaden Yuki, and by now, Jaden was a duelist turned pro. Today was the 30th anniversary of Duel Academy being built, and he was one of the few the school had asked to help celebrate. Jaden would be living in the Red Dorm for a year, along with all the other duelists.

Jaden walked into the Red Dorm. There were three students in it.

"Um… hey, what happened to everybody else?" Jaden asked.

"Who else?"

"The… other… students?"

They cracked up. "There aren't any other students."

Jaden stared wide-eyed at them. "What?"

"Everybody's watching the exams."

"Aren't they over?" Jaden asked, very confused.

One boy chuckled. "No, of course not. There's still another day left."

"He doesn't know."

"Of course he doesn't know."

"They split the exams into two days. Too many people showed up for them to jam it all into one day."

Oh. That made sense. For once.

"Guys. My exam's in twenty minutes. WHERE IS MY D.D. MASTER?"

"Heh heh. We hid it this morning on him."

"GIVE IT TO ME. NOW."

"Okay, fun's over. Where's his card?"

"I… I don't remember."

"Hey, who's he?"

"That's Jaden Yuki. Some old champion or something."

"Wait. Jaden YUKI? Wow."

"You know him?"

"He's one of the best duelists in the world! I'm Nick, by the way."

"Nick doesn't follow turbo dueling like the rest of us."

"Because it's STUPID."

"Are you a turbo duelist?"

"Nope."

"That's a class here now, you know."

"If you rode a Duel Runner, Jaden… you'd be unstoppable," Nick said.

Jaden laughed. "Maybe."

The other three guys went upstairs. "If you need us, we'll be up here."

"Oh, holy crap. I need to find D.D. Master!"

**20 Minutes Later**

"I can't believe I haven't found it yet. Where could it be?"

"You know what? Here."

Jaden handed Nick a card.

"Turbo Rocket? Thanks, but I don't even have a Synchro monst-"

BRIIING!

"My alarm! I gotta go duel!"

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Nick took off.


	2. Chapter 2: Duel Field 7

**Hi people! I thought this was going to be one of those easy-to-write, words flowing chapters. It wasn't. Not at all.**

**I had one question to ask: Any ideas on how to make the duels easier to read? Because I can't come up with a good system. I tried bolding all the cards, but that just made it look worse.**

**Thanks!**

**Oh, one more thing. Some of these cards I made up, but I put links at the bottom for the real cards :)**

* * *

Jaden walked in to Duel Academy and searched over the Duel Fields. He saw Nick in Field 7, and ran over to watch the duel.

**Nick's POV**

I wanted to say that the duel started off to a good start. But it didn't. I didn't have a single monster in my hand.

"Um… I set one card and end my turn?"

"That's it? Pathetic."

"Oh, thanks."

"I summon Bird of Roses (ATK/ 1800 - non-Tuner) in Attack Mode! Next, I attack you directly!"

"I activate my trap! Threatening Roar! Thanks to that, you can't declare an attack this turn."

"Fine. I set a card and end my turn."

I drew a card. Sure, I had 6 freaking cards in my hand, but not a single one was a monster!"

I scanned my hand. "I set another card. Your turn."

"Oh, this is pathetic. I summon Cherry Inmato (Tuner)! Then I Synchro Summon Queen of Thorns (ATK/ 2200)! I end my turn."

**Jaden**

"Um… why didn't she attack?"

"Because she knew Nick had a face-down trap," I answered.

"Huh? He does?"

"Of course."

"Oh. Okay. What did Nick say your name was again?"

"Jaden."

"I'm Sid. Nice to meet you."

**Nick**

"I draw!"

Sweet! I drew just the card I needed to start things off. "I Summon Banisher of the Radiance (ATK/ 1600)! And I equip him with Big Bang Shot. And… I activate… um…"

Oops. I forgot to get a follow up strategy. "I end my turn."

"I attack."

"Oh! Right! I activate Sakuretsu Armor. So your monster is destroyed!" Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.

"Finally, something happens."

I glared at her.

"Anyway… I set two cards and end my turn."

I drew… YES! Finally!

"I activate D.D. Snatchsteal. This means I can add 1 random card on your side of the field or hand to my hand, once per turn… I pick the card in your hand on the left. She tossed a card called D.D. Kuriboh over to me.

"Oh, cool. I activate Axe of Despair, and equip it to Banisher of the Radiance. And, finally, I attack you directly!"

Nick/ 4000

Examiner/ 1000

"There. I end my turn by setting one more card."

"I summon-"

"Not so fast. I activate my trap, Snipe! This means I can attack you outside of my Battle Phase with Banisher. So I do!"

Nick/ 4000

Examiner/ 0000

"How's that for pathetic?"

"Ha. Ha ha. You're hilarious, kid." She walked over to dueling field 13, not looking back.

That's when the power went out.

**Jaden**

"Why'd the power go out?" wondered Sid.

"Duel Academy's not the most advanced building around. It'll probably come back on in a few seconds.

In about three seconds, it was back. "See, what did I-"

Sid was gone.

* * *

**Oooooh! Mysterious!**

**Anyway, here are those links I promised:**

.com/wiki/Bird_of_Roses

.com/wiki/Threatening_Roar

.com/wiki/Cherry_Inmato

.com/wiki/Queen_of_Thorns

.com/wiki/Banisher_of_the_Radiance

.com/wiki/Big_Bang_Shot

.com/wiki/Sakuretsu_Armor

.com/wiki/Axe_of_Despair

**The rest I came up with. review and enjoy!**

**-thriller107**

**P.S. There's a manga-only card called Sneak Attack that gave me the basis for Snipe, if you were wondering (**.com/wiki/Sneak_Attack**)**


	3. Chapter 3: Dark Signers

**Nick**

CRASH!

A Duel Runner crashed through the wall, and several screams ensued.

"Professor… Professor Cooper? What are you doing? And why are your eyes glowing?"

"None of your business," she retorted. "Where's that Nick kid?"

Another Duel Runner, containing Professor Robins.

"I'm activating Speed World!" Professor Cooper yelled. Two other Duel Runners crashed in from the hangar.

"One of you is gonna have to duel me, or else. You don't wanna know what else means."

Everybody started pointing at each other.

"Not me."

"Not me."

"No way."

"I'll do it, I guess," I said.

Everyone cheered.

"I'll do it, too," said Sid.

"Sid? Why are you-"

"Just trust me, Nick."

Prof. Cooper stared at us. "We doin this or what?"

"Yeah, of course we are. I summon Banisher of the Radiance in attack mode (ATK/ 1600)! I set one card and end my turn!"

"Don't tell me you forgot. This is a Turbo Duel!"

"What?" I ran over to one of the Duel Runners and hopped in. "Where's the track?"

They cackled. "He wants to know where the track is."

All of a sudden, everything around us disappeared and was replaced by… by…

"The Shadow Realm."

"What the hell are we doing here?"

"We Dark Signers are trying to get rid of you Signers, duh. Now, it's my turn. I pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon Dark Tuner - Dark Goddess Witaka!" Next, I summon Level Beast! I remove from play the top card of my deck to make his level negative 6, and now I Dark Synchro Summon…"

A huge pitch-black dragon appeared out of nowhere. "Shadow Dragon (ATK/ 3000)!"

Nick & Sid/ 8000

Dark Signers/ 7000

"Wait. Signers?"

"One of you is a Signer, you moron. Oh, and I attack you. Directly."

"What?"

BOOOM!

"Aaaaaahhhhh!"

Signer(s)/ 5000

Dark Signers/ 7000

"Sorry Sid."

"It's okay. But… I… what am I supposed to do? I…"

"I'm done."

"I… pass?"

"Sid? What are you doing? At least summon a monster!"

"Oh… okay. I summon Flip Flop Frog."

"Aren't you guys gonna start your freaking Duel Runners?"

"I don't know how to-"

VROOOM! Sid and I were launched, zooming at 80 mph.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE CRAP?"

"OH, maaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnn, Nick. Oh, jeez."

"I love it. You two can't even ride a Duel Runner!"

"I activate Fiend Barrage! Go, Demon Blade (ATK/ 2300! Attack Flip Flop Frog!"

"And you lose Life Points even though your monster was in defense mode!"

Signers/ 2900

Dark Signers/ 7000

"Finally. My turn. I draw… and I activate Pot of Greed. And next…" I stared at the cards in my hand. I started to sweat. "What exactly happens if we lose?"

"We overthrow the school, and then the world."

"Are you serious?"

"No, I'm joking. Of course I'm serious! How dumb do you get?"

"I activate Change of Heart, and-"

Signers/ 0900

Dark Signers/ 7000

"Why'd our Life Points go down?"

"This is a Turbo Duel. You gotta pay 2000 Life Points to activate a Spell Card!"

"WHAT?" My Duel Runner started swerving out of control. "AAAAHHHH!"

"Nick? You okay?"

"Yeah. I attack your Demon Blade!"

Signers/ 0900

Dark Signers/ 6300

"I release your Shadow Dragon to summon King Pyron (ATK/ 1500) in attack mode! I'm done."

"Then I summon Blocker (ATK/ 850 - DEF/ 1800) in defense mode. Then, I activate Speed Spell - Sonic Buster. And since Blocker has 850 attack, you lose the same amount of Life Points!

"Are you kidding me?"

Signers/ 0050

Dark Signers/ 6300

"Sid? Can you do this?"

"I think. I summon Junk Synchron! And I Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter (ATK/ 2900)."

"Sid! I was going to Gemini Summon it and then use its ability!"

"Oh. My bad. But I attack Blocker."

"Okay. That's it." I pressed three buttons on my watch.

SHOOOM! Time stopped.


	4. Chapter 4: Slifer

**Sid**

"Sid, what the heck is going on here? You're in Slifer Red, dude. You passed your examination duel, right? Sid?"

"Sorry, but… um… why did time stop?"

He sighed. "My watch is a Millennium Item. The Millennium Watch can stop time. Yeah."

"I knew your watch could turn into a Duel Disk, but… a FREAKING MILLENIUM ITEM?"

"I gotta ask though… did you pass your dueling exam?"

"Um… yeah…"

"Really?"

"No."

"How'd you sneak in?"

"My family's kinda… wealthy. But all we could afford was Slifer Red."

"Okay. But WHY did you volunteer for a shadow game?""I… I… I… I just wanted people to like me, I guess…"

"Okay. Okay. But you need a new Deck."

"I know."

I watched Nick push a few buttons on his watch and time restarted.

**Nick**

"My turn," said Professor Cooper. "I summon Power Invader (ATK/ 2200)! Next, I attack you."

"I activate my face-down. You can't attack this turn."

"Fine, whatever. I end my turn."

"I draw! And it's… my egyptian god, Slifer the Sky Dragon (ATK/ 5000)."

Sid looked stunned. I paused time again.

"You're in Slifer Red and you _have_ Slifer the Sky Dragon?"

"Yeah. Jaden went his entire time at Duel Academy in Slifer Red, and look where he is now. Plus, it's kind of ironic, don't you think? Look, I've got a combo that can finish this. Just let me play it."

"Okay."

I unpaused time.

"I activate my other face-down, Royal Flush. So, I can take control of 1 card on your side of the field. Since Power Invader is the only one…"

"Crap."

I attack you with Slifer and Power Invader!"

Dark Signers/ 0000

Signers/ 0050

The two professors' eyes stopped glowing. They stared at the Shadow Realm.

"AAAAAHHHHHH! WHAT THE-"

"Yeah. You got possessed."

"Big time."


	5. Chapter 5: Uria

"Uria, attack Slifer!"

"I activate Jar of Greed! So Slifer's ATK is now 8000!"

"Fine, but I'm discarding a trap to reincarnate my Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!"

"Fight all you want, but this duel is mine! For my friends!"

"You can squirm, but in the end the Dark Signers will crush you and your puny little group!"

"Nick! NICK!"

I woke up. Cold sweat poured down my face. "Jaden? What's up dude? It's like 4 am."

"You ask me. You were yelling monster cards and traps."

"Bad dream, I guess." I took Slifer out of my deck. Phew.

"You know, I dueled against Yugi, once. And he used that card against me. I ran into him the years ago, and he said that the spirit of Slifer told him you were its next rightful owner. I never guessed it would be you."

"Yeah, I went to that huge promotional duel between him and Seto Kaiba. After he won, he just gave it to me and walked off. I had to duel like half the stadium to keep it, but Slifer kept winding up in my hand the first turn so I could use it over and over. It was really cool. But… Uria…"

"Are you talking about the _Sacred Beast_ Uria? I fought them like 10 times. It got annoying. And life-threatening, but I made it. By the way, _what the heck_ is Sid doing over there?"

"Um… you guys? Come quick? PLEASE!"

We looked outside the window to see a gigantic red dragon.

"Uria, the Lord of Searing Flames," Jaden mouthed.


	6. Chapter 6: A Clashing of Titans, Part 1

**Nick**

"What… is that doing here? The Sacred Beasts are supposed to be locked up!"

"Jaden? Why is it real?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not flickering."

"Um… really good programming? I hope?"

!

The sound of Uria blew me back. "I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon!"

VVSSHHOOOMMM!

!

"How did you summon a monster for real?"

"Millenium Watch. Does a crap-load of stuff." I turned my head. "Slifer, attack!"

"I can summon monsters too, because of-"

"Yubel. I know, I saw you talking to her. Say hi to Winged Kuriboh for me, would ya? I activate Lightning Vortex! Be gone, Uria!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Nice try, little Slifer slacker. But I activate Magic Jammer." An obelisk blue came out behing a tree.

"Mark? How can you summon Uria?"

"Simple. My master allows me to. And my master can do anything."

Jaden activated his duel disk. "Can your _master_ counter my Skyscraper 3: Hero Spaceport? I send Elemental Heroes Flame Wingman and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!"

"Yes he can. I summon Jinzo."

"What the crap?"

"Nick?" Sid yelled. "What the hell is going- holy crap. What the freaking… uh… Good holograms?"

"Nope."

"I summon Yubel!"

"Say bye-bye to your decks, little kids. RRRROOOOAAAAARRRRR! Uria's mouth burst open with swirling, crimson fire.

"AAH!" We all dove, but I dropped my duel disk. Mark swooped in, stole my deck, and ran off.

"My… my deck! I have to catch him!"

Jaden yelled after him. "Come back here! You didn't even give us a fair duel!"

"Hey, Nick, I'm sorry," Sid said.

"It's okay, I'm just kinda-"

"Is that Slifer?"

I looked to where he was pointing. "Yeah, I think it is. Thanks. At least that guy didn't get Slifer. Or my duel disk that doubles as my Millenium Item."

"Why didn't he take it?" Sid asked.

"Can't. It shocks any 'bad' souls. I guess I'm good then, huh? That… was… a… joke… never mind. Let's just go alert Chancellor Sheppard!"

Chancellor Sheppard's Office

"So you're saying possession by the Dark Signers, or so you assume, has happened again?"

"Right," Jaden, Sid, and I said all at once.

"You know, for an old man, I have to deal with a lot of stuff at this academy. I need a vacation."

Jaden laughed. "You should just screw the Spirit Key thing and give us the cards," he joked.

"Excellent idea, Jaden."

"Yeah, about that, I was kidding."

"I know. But we should do exactly that. For some reason, the Dark Signers only took Uria, Lord of Searing Flames. Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder and Raviel, Lord of Phantasms are both safe. Or as "safe" as they get with our "protection" equipment. I honestly think they would be better of with you two."

"Sir, I already possess an Egyptian God Card. I don't think having a Sacred Beast in my deck would be a good idea. The two don't tend to cooperate."

Jaden piped up. "We should do things strategically. Who uses a Fiend-Type deck?"

"That would be your room mate Ted uses a fiend deck. And Jaden, from what I hear you use Continuous Spells these days, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, then. Off with you. Oh, and Jaden, one more thing."

"Yeah?"

Sheppard grinned. "Nick and Sid, you are dismissed."

**Jaden**

"Do you remember that girl Alexis?"

"Yup. The one with the Cyber Angels?"

"She's still crazy about you, Jaden. And she's Obelisk Blue's star duelist."

"_STILL? _Excuse me?"

"Oh, that's right. She never told you. The whole school knew it though. Anyway… she's been asking all week when you could meet up with her."

Jaden blushed. "Um… thanks."

**:D Yay! I got some Alexis and Jaden in! I didn't even know about that pairing until a couple weeks ago, so you know I had to put it in there. Have a good day everyone! Please R&R.**

**-thriller107**


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